Big East Tournament Live-Blog Session 6

Tonight, we get two more possible #1 seeds as Pitt takes on West Virginia in the first game, and UConn gets Syracuse in the nightcap. Pitt-West Virginia may end up being a dog fight, as both teams rely heavily on getting points off of offensive rebounding and defense. UConn-Syracuse should be packed, as both teams draw very well here in NYC.

As always, if you have questions or comments, feel free to email me at ContactBIAH@gmail.com.

- 127-117. 6 ot. What a game. G'night.

- 120-112 Cuse. 1:47 left.

- Buffalo Wild wings doesn't want it to end

- Harris gives the Cuse a 118-110 lead.
- first Cuse lead of OT.

- Harris, Price, Rautins, and Adrien all have 4.

- 6 OT's. This is absurd. I can't believe I am here for this.

- UConn brings in Haralson, who hits a jumper to give UConn the lead. Flynn is fouled. Hits both.

- Devendorf has fouled out. 106 104 with 2 minutes left.

- 5 OT. Price starts the scoring with a jumper. 3 left.

- Unreal sequence there. Not even going to try to type it. 40 seconds, tie game, uconn ball. These kids are exhausted.

- Rick Jackson and Thabeet have fouled out. UConn up two.

- Price makes the second but Rautins ties it with a three. YOU HAVE TO FOUL THERE!!! Don't let them get the three off. I know the Huskies have been missing free throws, but still. Have confidence in your team.

- an adrien turnover leads to a dunk, but after he misses two ft's, walkker grabs an offensive board and the throw. Austrie grabs one after he misses a three. Price to the line up 2 with 21.3 left. Misses first.
- A Thabeet putback and a Harris putback keeps the lead at four. 1:37 left. The Cuse press is killing the Huskies right now.

- Harris, Jackson, Price, Adrien and Thabeet all have four fouls. After four Cuse free throws and a UConn turnover against the press, price hits two. 95-91.

- Stanley Robinson fouls out. 2:59 left.

- After a Price floater with 3:00 left, UConn is up six and Boeheim calls a timeout.

- Price starts the OT off with a three. After a Thabeet free throw it is 91-87
- 3 OT. I have no idea what to say about this right now. UConn misses three lay-ups before Flynn misses a three with 4 seconds, only For Walker to hit the back rim on a hal court prayer.

- Onuaku fouls out. 1:18 left.

- Flynn ties it with a three point play.

- After 3 free throws UConn up 3.

- The happiest people in the gym are from West Virginis, who plays the winner tomorrow.

- They are playing Oh What A Night by The Four Seasons.

- sticks hits 1-2 and Uconn takes a two point lead, but Flynn takes it to the rack and drops it off for a Rick Jackson dunk. 2 OT

- why is Rautins taking the big shot? Why not Flynn or Devo?

- Every single person is standing in this gym.

- Fitting. In his best game as a Husky, Robinson knocks down a three with 1:23 left to put UConn up 4. The Orange aren't out of it yet as Rautins answers with his own triple.

- this is incredible. Someone starts a chant, and it immediately turns into all husky fans screaming Let's go Huskies and Cuse fans yelling Let's go Orange. No matter how it started.

- Robinson starts the OT with two FT's, then Thabeet dives on the floor to gather a loose ball and calls a timeout.

- No good. Ot!!!!

- Kemba Walker ties it up with a second left, but the Cuse throws the ball the length of the court where it lands in Devo's hands and he hits a three at the buzzer. The refs are reviewing it. Stay tuned.

- I hope everyone at home is loving this. Basketball doesn't get any better than this. UConn down one to the Orange, their biggest rival, in a packed house in MSG with 1 minute left. Enjoy it. I am.

- Onuaku was 1-19 before those two free throws.

- Stanley Robinson has been the best player on the floor for the Huskies. He has 22 and 8 boards.

- Price is not getting shots. Why? Its a good question.

- Hugwe finish by Onuaku. UConn just doesn't seem to have much court sense. Case in point, Austrie blocked the Flynn jumper, but neither Edwards or Thabeet reacted quick enough to get the loose ball. Ongenaet knocks it to Flynn who finds Onuaku for the lay-up and the foul. UConn is in big trouble because they are down 64-57 with 3:56 left and are struggling to score.

- This place has turned into a home court for the Cuse. Every Pitt fan in my section is cheering for the Orange.

- Free throws are killing the Huskies. 7-15 after Robinson missed two.

- Jonny Flynn is taking this game over. Great move in the paint to draw the foul. 59-56 with 6:35 left on the clock.

- Huge three by Rautins as the Cuse have come back to take a 54-51 lead. UConn is struggling to get good looks offensively right now.

- Rick Jackson does not get enough touches. He is very good when he gets it on the block.

- Sticks with another big dunk. He is playing great today. When he is active defensively and on the glass he is such a difference maker. Not many people have a kid with his tools.

- We are at the under 12 timeout and UConn is up 46-42. Neiother team seems to be in rhythm offensively right now. Boeheim has gpotten such a quick leash with Paul Harris in this tournament. He is not afraid to pull him a minute into jis rotation.

- Sorry. Technical difficulties. Why would AJ Price ever try to pass to Thabeet running at full speed?

- What a first half of basketball. UConn takes a 37-34 lead into the break. Price and Robinson both have 11 for UConn, who is killing the Orange in the paint offensively. But the Huskies cannot get back on the defensive end as the Cuse transition game is clicking. This is going to be an amazing second half.

- First fight of the night. Some UConn in a Cuse section threw a punch and was escorted out by about 10 security guards ... all about 15 rows below me.

- What makes the Cuse so difficult to stop in transition is their best rebounder (Harris) can get out and lead the break. When he does, Flynn and Devo get out on the wings and its off to the races.

- Harris is leading the Orange with 8 and 4 while Price has 8 to lead the Huskies.

- Wow. Stanley Robinson is a bit athletic. He threw down a vicious windmill.

- Price hits a three to tie it at 20.

- UConn is crashing the glass with everyone, and as soon as the Orange secure the board they are out running. They didn't do that in the first half.

- The Orange zone is working well right now because UConn is not moving well in it. Thabeet and Adrien are standing too much. Offensively, Syracuse is clicking. They are pushing the ball very well, and running crisply off of screens.

- Devo with five straight points, but Price responds with a three.

- We are at the under 16 timeout, and the Orange are up 8-7. UConn, as usual, is missing free throws left and right. The Huskies need to keep getting the ball into the high post to beat this zone. Once they get a couple hi-lo's, the threes and pwerimeter lanes will start to open up.

- The Cuse fan next to me, every time Paul Harris touches the ball, says "holy sh*t Paul, what are you doing!!". You may have to be hearing it, but it is pretty funny.

- Three times to Adrien at the high post, two baskets and three foul shots.

- UConn alreasy O-3 from the line.

- Great pass by Adrien too Thabeet. And-1 dunk. UConn has to get the ball to Adrien at the high post to beat this zone.

- Definitely a decided advantage for UConn in the crowd, although I have a feeling Pitt and WVU fans will begin rooting for the Cuse before too long. This place is rocking right now.

- Ebanks now has 20 and the WV faithful rise as this one is over. Butler finishes with 16 and Ruoff ends up with 18 as WV wins 74-60.

- Blair is gone. 14 points but only about 10 minutes of floor time. 68-60 with 1:17 left.

- Butler just got his fourth on a Sam Young drive. It was Youngs first basket in like 15 minutes.

- The Garden is absolutely packed right now. This place is going to be crazy for tonight's game.

- That might be the dagger. Butler knocks down a three to put WV up 68-53 with a little over 5 minutes left. My new rule is ALWAYS pick WV in every tournament for at least one up set. Remember last year? They knocked off UConn as a sixand then beat Duke in the tourney as a seven.

- 6:52 left and WV is still up 10. Ruoff is back in the game. Huge miscommunication as Flowers gets a wide open layup. Blair just picked up his fourth on an illegal screen.

- Where is Sam Young this half? He has been very quiet.

- Two great plays by Gibbs back to back. Beautiful pass for a layuo then a great pull up in transition.

Ruoff took a shot to the face. Can't see what happened, but it looks like he lost a contact.

- And he is hitting jumpers now? 17 for Ebanks as WV has opened up a 12 point lead. WV is back in the zone. In theory, it is great. They are running a 1-3-1 with 6 9 Ebanks at the top. But that was their first stop in it.

- Devin Ebanks is going to be a star. Yesterdayan he had 18 boards and 5 assists. Today, he has 14 points, a couple pretty post moves, and a HUGE dunk. Check youtube for it later.

- Blair just picked up his third via a tech. I didn't see what it was for. Any help?

- It is the under 12 timeout. 53-45 WV. The Mountaineers really are battling inside. They are doing a solid job battling with Blair. He has 12 points and 4 boards.

- There are some real battles going on under the basket. For a big strong guy, Blair gets a lot of ticky tack fouls. Maybe he is so big a big hit lloks liks nothing.

- Ebanks is the best player on the floor right now, with 15 points and 5 boards. But Blair is starting to assert his dominance. He has two buckets and just drew a foul on the last possession. 47-41 WV.

- I saw a stat the other day. DeJuan Blair gets 25% of the Panthers misses. That is more than seven TEAMS. Ridiculous.

- Beautiful fast break led by Bryant finished with a huge one-handed dunk by Ebanks on Dixon. WV is up 45-37 and taking it right at Pitt. The issue is and always will be keeping Blair and co. off the o-boards, and as long as they can keep it up, they should be in good shape.

- Bryant bangs a three and WV is up six.

- Smith picks up his third foul guarding Blair. He is a loas on the block.

- And the second half begins with Ebanks getting a bucket in the paint.

- So we head into halftime with WV seemingly up 36-34 after a tip-in at the halftime buzzer by Flowers. Butler leads WV with 9 while Ebanks has 9 as well. Young is leading Pitt with 8 points. West Virginia missed a golden opportunity with Blair picking up two early fouls. WV has had trouble keeping the Panthers from penetrating, either in man or in the zone they were playing (which was completely ineffective - three possession, three baskets). Pitt had seven first half o-boards, but WV has five of their own. Fields struggled at the start, but finished with an outstanding half, ending with 6 assists.

- Butler just picked up his third foul. WV has switched to a 1-3-1 zone, but it has not been all the effective yet.

- Biggs picked up his third. The Panthers go small, lining up Gibbs and Fields in the backcourt with Young at center.

- We are at the under 4 timeout, and Pitt is up 29-28.

- Butler picks up his second foul trying to front Young 17 feet from the hoop.

- Gorgeous touch pass from Fields to Brown for a dunk. Pitt scored seven quick points to take the lead. Pitt is really trying to push the ball right now with Blair out of the game.

- Wanamaker with a tough drive to the rim, drawing a foul and-1 against Ruoff. 26-25.

- Classic screen the screener out of bounds play. Ruoff wide open three. Pitt has to know that play.

- Fields to Young oop. They are good for one of those a game. Under 8 timeout and it is 24-20 WV. The mountaineers want to build up a lead right now with Blair on the bench.

- Da'Sean Butler hits another three and WVU goes up four. Biggs has two fouls now too for Pitt.

- This game is very physical on both ends. Both teams are really battling out there.

- WVU is outscoring Pitt 15-7 since Blair went out. WV is really clicking offensively right now as they have scored the last six possessions. It is 19-17 at the under 12 timeout. Levance Fields is not playing very well. He has missed a number of drives to the rim, and has a couple bad turnovers. With Blair out, the Panthers need him to step up.

- what a pass from Bryant to Ebanks.

- And Blair picks up his second foul. Huge. The big fella makes such a difference for this Pitt team. When he is on the bench it is a huge hole in the middle. I don't know why you try and take that charge you are Blair.

Pitt has a 9-4 lead and Blair has five points and four boards. Ruoff to the line for the Mountaineers.

- and we're back, as Pitt has taken an early 6-4 lead. Blair has 2 points and 3 boards already, but more importantly 1 foul.